Frag Out! Magazine

EARLY DAYS After Poland became independent, the Ministry of Defense engaged in works on establishment (reactivation) of regional defense forces already in 1990. Due to the absence of relevant experience, the process of formation of the new type of armed forc- es was modeled on the Internal Defense Forces (PL: Wojska Obrony Wewnętrznej; WOW) of the Polish People's Republic era. The goal was to create Regional Defense brigades controlled by military district commands and Regional Defense regi- ments subordinate to province-based mil- itary administration authorities, mobilized from scratch using the available human resources, supplied with equipment and armaments handed over by operational forces. In 1992, Poland's regional forces were renamed to Territorial Defense Forces (PL: Wojska Obrony Terytorialnej; OT). The plan was to form TDF brigades and reg- iments modeled after the organizational structure of the internal forces, which were to be subordinate to territorial military ad- ministration authorities. First, as early as in 1994-1996, commands and sub-units of three brigades were es- tablished. The units were formed on the basis of the dissolved combat and support sub-units of operational forces. Forming the first TD (Territorial Defense) units along the so-called "Eastern Wall of Poland" (i.e. provinces neighboring Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, Slovakia, and the Ukraine) was to enhance the military presence in this part of the country. Deployment of the said TD sub-units to the east of the Vistula River was to demonstrate the Polish Military's readiness to take quick action in the event of any situation threatening the country's safety and independence. The final version of the "Concept of de- velopment of territorial defense" (PL: "Koncepcja rozwoju obrony terytorialnej) was approved in 1999. It assumed that in the time of peace, TD units would have not more than 10,000 soldiers, who would serve on principles similar to those applied in forming sub-units of operational forces. The structure and the establishment of the units planned to be formed were supposed to increase the count of TD forces, amount- ing up to 120,000 soldiers in wartime (it was assumed that peacetime TD units should be composed of not more than 10% of the headcount provided for wartime). It was also expected that the count of the territorial forces would be at least 300,000, with the target number of 550,000. In 1997, the existing sub-units had around 5,500 serving soldiers; the number was sup- posed to double by the end of 2003. The "Concept of development of territorial forces" included basic data concerning the tasks, organizational structures, and pro- cedures governing the functioning of the new type of the Polish Armed Forces. TD forces were to be involved in defense activ- ities carried out in particular provinces of the country, with the most important tasks being: conducting defense operations in cooperation with operational forces, cover- ing areas of unit and reserve mobilization, supporting the reception of allied forces, protecting military facilities and critical in- frastructure features, and working together with territorial state authorities to remove or eliminate the effects of natural disasters. TD forces were to be developed across all types of Poland's armed forces – mainly in the Land Forces, but also in air forces and navy. In the case of the latter two, TD sub- units were to deal with special operations to aid and relieve the primary forces. The www.fragoutmag.com

• Cover